solos & duets
by blueraspberry-butterflies
Summary: Will is minding his own business when he hears piano notes coming from the music room and decides to check it out, finding a loudmouthed (and admittedly pretty) Candor, an important competition, and plenty of donuts more than he bargained for inside. (Will probably should think his decisions through more carefully). Modern AU, Will/Christina


Will wasn't exactly sure why he was entering the music room, but hey, what's the worst that could happen? The door was slightly ajar and had creaked when he pushed on it. Immediately a girl came into view.

She was sitting on the weathered red-velvet piano bench, playing a tune with her long fingers. Her skin was dark and her hair was short-he couldn't see her face, but her clothes (black and white) indicated that she was from the Candor section of their high school. Will subconsciously rubbed the deep blue material of his uniform's suit jacket between his forefinger and thumb.

He quietly closed the door behind him and leaned against the wall, listening to her play. After a beat, he recognized it: Heart and Soul. Two people usually played it, and as that thought entered Will's head, he saw his mother patiently teaching his father the notes. Will had observed and learned how to play both parts, although not simultaneously. That was impossible. Yet the girl played.

He closed his eyes and concentrated on the song.

Theorizing that she was playing a different variation, he paused in confusion. Why would anyone yearn to play a song by themselves that was meant for a duet? It went against his moral code to disobey the unstated directions like that. Will didn't even notice that the girl had stopped playing.

"Ah!"

Will jerked his head to see that the girl had just realized he had entered her previously isolated room. She glared at him like he had just murdered her mother and insulted all that was right with the world. Immediately Will got the impression of being sliced to pieces with eyes. Evidently (he might not have been the best Erudite there ever was, but he wasn't that oblivious) this was her private area.

"What are _you_ doinghere?"

"Sorry," he said, putting his hands up. The girl rolled her eyes. "Just a question," Will began, scarcely believing he was still talking and not fleeing the room, "why play that song independently? You know it's written for two. It sounds much better like that anyway."

She stuck her head up in the air defiantly. "I don't need to rely on another person when I want to play a song. Plus, everybody always messes it up."

"But it's so much better in pairs!" Will protested, walking over to her direction. He didn't like to argue with (or associate with, for that matter) smart-mouth Candors. It was his stupid impulses that got him into this debate.

"Oh, please."

"Okay," Will said, sitting down on the seat beside her. "I'm no Mozart, but bear with me."

"What are you gonna do, play it?" she scowled.

Will was slightly annoyed. "Yeah, Princess. How about a competition, to find out the _truth_?"

He grinned inside. Candors could never resist finding out what was right and what was wrong.

She raised her eyebrows, thinking over the idea. "So, we play together, and I play solo, and we see which one is better?"

Will nodded. "Ready to be beaten? Two is better than one."

The girl laughed. "That sounds like an awful pick-up line, Mr. I-Know-Everything. And I am going to win."

"We'll see, Princess." Will said, rolling his eyes like she was a petulant child insisting that she wasn't tired. Noticing this, she took a munchkin from the box on the music teacher's desk and threw it at him. Will caught it and popped it into his mouth.

She opened the recording app on her phone and hit play, curling her fingers on the keys.

"_Heart and soul,_

_I fell in love with you."_

Her voice was clear and bright.

As she continued to play, Will tensed. What if he was wrong, and stupid? As much as he hated to admit it, he was having fun with this.

As she finished, he hit stop on her phone and gave a little mock clap.

"Wonderful job, Princess."

"Thank you, Mr. I-Know-Everything."

Will sat on the left of the bench, intending to do the harmony. The girl sat on his right and reached for her phone.

Will didn't know why he felt compelled to win, just that he _had_ to. This was important, he told himself. And deep in his bones, it felt like that, like the world was waiting for them to play and for the competition to be resolved. It all came down to this.

The pair began to play, the notes harmonizing just as they must have been written to long ago. The tune was jolly and lovely, making it a fun song to listen to and a fairly simple one to play, but Will was rusty and had never been good at piano. He messed up quite a few times (wincing at the un-synchronized tempo and every time his fingers slipped), but kept playing until she stopped, pausing the recording and looking up at him.

"Moment of truth," she declared, not moving from her spot mere inches beside him.

Will gulped.

She started the recordings and Will listened thoughtfully.

Hers was prettier, no doubt-theirs was riddled with slipups- but theirs had a certain completion, a certain sweetness about it that was hard to ignore. But who was the winner?

She seemed to have come to the same conclusion-or rather question.

"Well-"

"I guess-" They started at the same time.

"Let's just wait for the music teacher to come back and decide," she suggested. Will felt a lump in his stomach. It was over.

_Of course it's over, dummy,_ he chided himself. This was just a simple, friendly little challenge. A debate. A competition. Nothing more, nothing less.

The girl's face looked glum, probably mirroring his. "I'm Christina, by the way," she offered half-heartedly.

Will smiled. "Christina. I like it." He appraised the name in his head. Pretty. "Will," he offered.

Christina returned his grin. "Thanks, Will." Will took a good look at her face. Her features were soft and sweet, her bottom teeth were crooked, and she always looked like she was on the verge of cracking out a joke or a sarcastic comment. Her brown eyes sparkled with competition.

Christina raised her eyebrows. "Are you _staring_, Will?"

Will quickly averted his eyes.

"So, Princess," he started. "Wanna fight over songs another time? I've got Chemistry in five." Will felt disappointed as the words left his mouth. Had the free period really gone by that quickly?

"Sounds great," she said. "How does next week here sound?"

"Perfect."

They continued chatting ("You memorized a map of the _school_?" "Yeah, didn't you?") until Will had missed half of Chemistry and Christina realized she had Math.

"See you around!" she cried over her shoulder, white jacket flapping against her body and legs.

Will grinned to an empty hallway. "Definitely."

(They never did get around to the judging of the Heart and Soul competition, but that didn't matter. They had their whole lives to argue about solos and duets.

And so they did.)

* * *

><p><strong>Hey, ya'll! <strong>

**If you want the abbreviated version of my craziness, look at the bottom.**

**First off, I'm so sorry I haven't gotten the next chapter of **_**and of course they were listening**_** up yet but I read Divergent and Insurgent and Allegiant and cried all day at school because- well, read them. So I'm feeling a lot of Will/Christina (I know, I know) and I look on the Divergent Trilogy fanfiction page and it's just FourTris after FourTris after FourTris, with 3/4 of that being poorly written. Ugh. Then I look at tumblr (btw, I'm peace-love-dumbledore there) and I find a small amount of stuff there. Two people warn me against listening to Vanilla Twilight while thinking about Christina after Will's death (*sob*) and being the mentally unstable person that I am, I check it out.**

**Oh. My. Earwax flavored beans.**

**(Did I forget to mention that I am currently in the fetal position, rocking back and forth, wailing? 'Cause I am.)**

**I also like Will and Christina more that I like Tobias and Tris. I should be exiled, I know. But I'm strange like that.**

**So, since they obviously didn't get a happy ending, I've written them one! Well, an implied one. But whateves.**

**Anyhoo, long story short:**

**-sorry about lack of story I promised to update**

**-I'm way too obsessed with minor meaningless pairings**

**-when I am locked up inside a mental institute, I will need visitors**

**-if anyone would like to lament with me on failed ships that would be absolutely wonderful**

**-review, review, review!**

**Thanks!**


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